ArNG11

This could be good and bad at the same time. The sharing of records between agencies should cut down on the processing time for records request, and the claims process however, I wonder, how the discovery process and verification of received information will go. Hmm you would think this is a good thing, that way, for those who have VA and private docs information on your conditions and treatments can be looked at by all your treating health care professionals. My thing is how can a Veterans confirm information was shared in their claims process. And whether there is accountability on agencies just using partial information to their benefit. Hmm.

Another win. Grand news enjoy and take care.

I feel for you as I am going through a similar situation. Mine is a little complex as I am dealing with the VA and federal workers compensation. Soon it will be three agencies with me in their sights when I apply for SSDI. I don't want to retire myself but Ive come to terms with the fact that I can't go on the way I've been. I won't make it. Not for the lack of trying. So I'm in the process of retiring at age 40 and I hate it. But I've had a good ride and I realized that I still have a responsibility to my wife and children. Their my mission now and I'm not leaving my post. As tempting as it is to just give up I understand completely how desperate it can seem. However, I know I've worked enough credits to collect ssdi. I know that I have some income from my disability from the VA. I also know that eventually I will get federal workers comp to accept all my cases and adjudicate them properly. The waiting and uncertainty is a real downer but you must go on. It will get better. Things are not as bad as they could be. It can't rain all the time. Keep fighting. Don't give up! JMHO

Not surprising in the least. But heh we all know that the cards are stacked against up from the get go. The way to combat this is to be smart. Make it easy for them to rate it. Line up the evidence and let them do their thing. They will get caught in the lies and dig their own graves. Unfortunately, we have to wait to get through the process. They can have their BS websites and what ever, I can care less. We have Hadit, we the CFR's, we have USC, laws, regulations and so forth. We have tools that we can use to defeat the wrong doings. Unfortunately we may not have the time always. Slow is smooth, smooth is fast. Squeeze the trigger, don't pull. Line up the sight picture and acquire the target. Keep these things in mind and you can pull through the minefield that is the VA claims process. JMHO

Eh I enjoyed it but I preferred fixing HMMV's, AGE, and aircraft. I wish the spine was as easy to fix. A few screws, ball and sockets and several disks several conduits and I'd be on my way.

I would believe that when there is equitable evidence both for and against the claim, they are supposed to rule in the veterans favor.

I attempted the combat medic for a few years in the Guard. I have an idea of what you mean Diver. Just the brief time that I played with that MOS. I understand. Just don't stop pushing. Weapons of choice are regulations, laws, and evidence. You will prevail. Don't give up because that is what they, the VA want you to do. Be tenacious.

Diver in my case, after my injury, I was doing train up for Iraq. Constantly wearing the IBAS I would position myself in a manner to make the pain bare able. I'm surprised that my liver and kidney's weren't shot with how many OTC anti-imflammortories that I was taking at the time. I just grinned and bared it and I can tell you that was a big mistake on my part. I should have gotten more treatment from the get go. But when your young and prideful, well this is where I am now. I disagree with the VA doc but I am not a dr. When I got ejected from the HMMV, I landed on my back and left hip and rolled a few times. I crushed a few vertebrae and wound up with a cervical and lumbar strain. It wasn't until I got back after Iraq and saw X-rays of my spine did I see what damage was done. I was in pain daily with the body armor. Again I just sucked it up. Chiropractor, steroid shots, OTC meds and the like. Till one day in 2012 my back went out and it's been really downhill from there. Traumatic injury to bones take a while to take there toll. The streroid shots barely offer any relief, chiropractor, facet blocks, epidurals, bi lateral medial branch blocks, physical therapy, TENS units, lidocane, even rhyzotomies don't help much. Even the narcotic meds don't do much but make me loopy. It is a bear to live with most days. My private docs have been helping me with the medical evidence, as well as advice from this forum and the help of my attorney. Anyways didn't mean to give you me sob story. My point is with the injury, Osteoarthitis or traumatic arthritis can take years to show up and it causes a great deal of complications from sciatica, pain, numbness, muscle spasms, and the like. Myself I have bi lateral radiculopathy in both legs. Pain and numbness that shoots down the legs. Mostly for me it is my left side but I do have that happen in both legs. From about my T5- down to S1, I have problems with the disks and vertebrae. Spine injuries are no joke and unless someone has one they don't really understand and fully comprehend the ramifications of such an injury. It can be tied together, your gait and walk will be affected by the injury and will cause a lot of secondary issues. I know my situation and I have done many of hours of research. However, this is king here, you are going to need a doctor to connect the dots for you with the injury and that the injury is causing all of these secondaries. Evidence and continuity of treatment is ever important. The better you have your evidence, medical and the like organized, the smoother and easier it will be to fight the VA. I will warn you that the process is long. Years. But it is not a good fight if it is not a long one. Well I'm going to go take a happy pill. I hope this is of some help. Good luck and keep fighting. Fight till your last breath.

tdubya82, First I will welcome you to the forum as you now have knowledgable and strong allies here. The wealth of knowledge and experienced Veterans and Veteran spouses is next to nothing I have dealt with before. Your timeframe has some similarities to my own situation and your diseases and conditions mirror many of us on here who have been to that part of the world. The opinions I will give you are my own and from my own mistakes and my own wins if you can call this whole process a win. It can take a long time to sort out through the BS that the VA puts us through but don't get discouraged and don't stop fighting. I have tried both approaches on conditions that are presumptive and those that are annotated in my service record. I was a National Guard Member so in my case it is complicated because most of my conditions were not documented in my service medical records other than medications that I was on and a couple of injuries that I sustained. I spent a year over there Active duty in the box in 2007-2008, in Camp Bucca, Iraq. However, I have well documented private medical records that are very detailed and collaborate my cases within the regulations needed to service connect the illnesses and injuries. It is difficult to get the VA to connect them but not impossible. I have managed to get some success with conditions like, hypothyroidism, GERD, and IBS. Those were service connected but lowballed. They have denied the rest. Sleep Apnea, Rhinitis, sinusitis, chronic fatigue, chronic pain and so forth. Those are all on appeal. The VA likes to choose what they will call service connected to service in SW Asia, and the burn pits, those play a part in many us who now suffer from health problems from exposures. The VA also likes to hide between the regs of undiagnosed illnesses and presumptive conditions. My first advice is to get your service medical records. You can do that via FOIA request and even requesting them from NPRC. Second you need to familiarize yourself with the regulations and laws that apply to your case. Once you have that you may need some doctor statements to confirm your nexus, the connection of your injuries and illnesses to service, and you will be well on your way to getting the compensation and treatment you have earned. The tricky part with this is when you have mental health issues like anxiety, depression, and PTSD, it is very hard to manage on your own and do this while trying to get treatment. Trust me and others on here when I say it is extremely difficult. However, it IS possible. I go through it everyday, but you must remain focused. Keep your eye on the ball, the prize if you want to call it that. Keep on pushing through the crap that you are going to face. Didn't mean to go off on a tangent. But when I read your post, I can relate very well to some of your experiences. Good Luck. Good Fortune. Fight till your last breath.

Don't think in terms like that brother. You will go looney. Research, familiarize yourself with the CFR's and ask questions on here. There are a lot of knowledgeable people on here that will be more than glad to help.

Man, honestly NOD are the way to go to battle the low ball ratings however, you only have one year to do that via a Notice of Disagreement. In order to combat a decision that has become final, the only real way to hit that is with a CUE. Clear and Unmistakeable Error. There is no leeway for the vet in that scenario, you are on equal footing with the VA if that can even be said. There is no equality there and no benefit of doubt. It had to be a legal error that would have ultimately be detrimental to the outcome of the claim. Berta, a long time advocate, has good templates and a good explanation of the CUE process. Check the forums and you will see what I mean.

If I may how did you injure your back? It depends on the evidence that you have or had at the time the decision was made. It's a big plus if you have inservice medical records that document the injury and continuity of treatment. I beg to differ on those symptoms with the opinion of the VA doc. I fell out of a HMMV when I injured mine. Landed on my left side and back. My spine is pretty jacked up, and I have osteoarthritis of both the left hip and the spine. My right hip also has signs of arthritis and shift because of the fall. This along with nerve damage, nerve root compression, DJD, DDD, Muscles spasms, and abnormal curvature of the spine. An injury like that can most definitely cause those kind of problems. You are going to have to get a medical opinion to contest those findings in order to beat that low ball of a rating. Although I have to admit you did better than I did my first go around. I got rated 10% for deformity of L1, 10% left radiculopathy, and 10% tinnitus. My second claim I received connection for my right radiculopathy at 10%. It is not pyramiding either. You can can a rating for damage to the muscles, nerves, and the spine. I will warn you though it's going to be a fight to get correctly rated. JMO

63sierra, always to the point. I kind of agree there has to be some accountability and changes in order for the VA's track record to change for the better. I believe the Honorable Secratary is doing the best he can, unfortunately the changes do not happen overnight. Cant change years of common practices overnight. I believe just as in a business if the employees and overseers forget what their purpose is, the customer, namely Veterans and their dependants, then the mission will become lost. JMO

Thats some coin. Man that was a FUBARed initial decision.

You know I have read and heard the same thing. From people I have spoken to it's much easier when you have ratings from one agency to the other. However, VA and SS have some drastic differences.

heh if it works and you make some progress the e-mail it is. Hmm. I might wait till after the DRO and maybe email once off to the BVA. Depends on the progress I make at Muskogee. Or rather my rainmaker. Is it too late to learn how rain dance?

Ok now I am curious. I wonder what the largest CUE award has been. That sure is a HELLO REVEILLE WAKE UP CALL!!! Would that be above 6 figures?

heh a win is a win. That's good news. Keep in the fight and good luck with the rest.

As if Georgia Papa. That would be grand. I'm getting tired of the half ass care I have been given. That is why I am so worried when I have to rely completely on the VA for medical care. It's scary to say the least. I often have wondered how long trying to get the VA to give me a referral for a gastro doc would have taken. Oh wait a sec. I do know. FOREVER. I'm luck I have private insurance. I have already seen two specialist, a surgeon, and had the surgery, and the best the VA has been able to do is give me an initial appointment to see a gastro doc in early April. Go figure huh.

Not that I don't recommend sending evidence off. But I would do as stated above. But in addition to this I would save some medical evidence for your rebuttal and NOD. New and material evidence does wonders when things don't go your way. I can totally believe the C&P doc not having the records. Oh keep your fax receipt confirmation page you may need it later on. Good luck though and keep in the fight.